Nor appears on the screen and my breath leaves my chest.
Christ. She’s fucking beautiful.
I focus on the stunning woman on the screen, smiling softly.
She tucks a lock of hair behind her ear. Her face is so pale and her eyes are surrounded by dark circles. “Hi.”
“Hi.” My hands flex on the table, missing the feel of her skin. Guilt slams into me as I take in the faint worry lines fanning the corner of her eyes. I should have been more considerate. “I’m so sorry for being such an asshole. I shouldn’t have treated you the way I did the night before I left.”
She drops her gaze quickly, but not before I see her eyes cloud with pain. Hurt. Her chest rises and falls, and she lifts her eyes back to meet mine. She looks exhausted. “You made me feel like I was nothing, Cole.”
Anger storms through me. Shit. I really messed up. I rub the nape of my neck, grimacing, then I sign, “You’re not nothing. You are so much more. I wish you’d see yourself the way I see you. I’m sorry for making you feel like that, Nor.”
The frown on her face is replaced by a soft smile. “I know. God, I’m so tired. I just want everything to be okay.”
She should be angry with me, instead she lets it go. I’m a jackass.
“You and the girls. . . Are you okay?”
Her face clouds over and she looks away, blinking fast. Biting her bottom lip she turns to face me and shakes her head. “I miss him. The girls miss him. They are having a hard time coping. Joce got into a fight today.”
“She told me. She’ll be okay though. I promise.” I feel fucking helpless. Knowing they are going through this and I’m too far away to offer them the comfort they need.
“You were amazing with Joce. I tried to talk to her about what happened but I could not get through to her.”
Those words send warmth inside my chest. I didn’t realize until this moment how much Nor’s approval means to me. How much her words lift me up. My throat closes up with emotion.
“I miss him too.” I know I can admit this to her without feeling weak because she knows me. She always has. Before Nor moved in next door, she and I had been living in our own little bubbles, our lives so different yet similar, somehow. I never thought I’d ever find someone who’d understand me. Whose heart would beat to the same rhythm as mine. Then I found her and my fucking heart soared.
I miss that connection.
We stare at each other across the screen, across the distance.
“Are you coming home soon?” she asks, jolting me from my thoughts. I wasn’t expecting that and my first instinct is to raise my fists and beat my chest.
She fucking missed me.
I’m not about to turn into a cocky bastard when we still have a huge gap to fill in on what happened nine years ago.
“I should be done with everything by tomorrow afternoon. I’ll be home the day after.”
“Good.” She purses her lips, rubs her eyes and yawns. “I need to talk to you.”
“I would like that,” I sign. I remember the conversation I had with Elise two days ago when she texted me, concerned her sister was turning into a scarecrow right in front of her eyes. “So I hear you’ve not been eating well.”
Her lips move and she scowls. Fire lights up her eyes as irritation flashes across her face. She looks so damn cute, all fired up and shit. My lips twitch, fighting a smile.
I really missed that.
“Who told you that?”
I shrug. “Someone who cares about you.”
Suddenly, she slumps forward, the fight leaving her body. She doesn’t say anything and I won’t push her to talk until she’s ready. But as much as I want to see that spark of life behind her eyes, I realize for once, I need to give her a break. For now. All bets are off when I get home.
“I have to go and finish up some details for the meeting tomorrow.”
“Right. Okay.” Her shoulders rise a bit higher and she straightens on the seat, looking relieved. She must have been bracing herself for a fight. She straightens her dress with nervous fingers and signs. “See you soon.”
“See you soon.”
BY THE TIME NICK PICKS me up from the airport and parks the car outside Nor’s house, my head is in chaos. Different emotions run through me, and I’m not sure where one emotion ends and the next begins.
The car stops vibrating beneath my feet, jolting me from my thoughts. I glance out the window and squint through the dark night to the house illuminated by the street lamp. I’m surprised we’re already at Nor’s house. I turn to face my brother, who is staring out the window, while tapping his fingers on the wheel. He shifts on his chair to face me.
He lifts his hands from the wheel and signs, “You have been twitchy the entire ride from the airport. I thought you would hop out of the car as soon as we got here.”